One With The Moon
by RisingSunburst
Summary: Luna's banishment to the moon by her sister Princess Celestia was a story never told to anyone, at least not in truth. The tale of the Mare in the Moon was a secret kept by Celestia for a millennium, while Luna served her banishment on the moon.


Sisters have a beautiful bond. A bond that one would think could never be broken, shattered, anything. But my dear sister betrayed me in the worst way when she banished me to the moon.

* * *

I met my sister three days after my birth. Her pure white coat and blank flank, and a light pink mane and tail were far different from what I'd seen so far. Only my mother, Queen Nova, and father, King Solaris, had cared for me, and they were the only ponies I'd met. My sister was quite a change of pace from my tall alicorn parents, and though she was three hundred years old, it was only the equivalent of three years for a normal pony. She spoke fluently and could read, as well as sing. She was such a great singer, and sung to me every night before I went to sleep.

" _Hush now, quiet now, time to lay your sleepy head_." Celestia sung softly as our mother raised the moon and our father lowered the sun. " _Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed_."

I would listen to that song, listen to her sweet, silky voice every night until she began studies with a magic tutor. Our parents had taught her some basic magic, but she wanted to learn more and earn her cutie mark. She no longer sung to me, and I was pushed aside for years while she studied, studied, studied. She rose the sun herself one morning, and a golden sun appeared on her flank. Years later, a bright white moon appeared on my own, and the four of us lived happily. Until our parents died in the Great Draconequus War. She sung to me again that day, and we began our rule of Equestria. A pure, grandeur rule, as we rebuilt Canterlot by each other's side. It was peaceful, but soon a strange voice began calling me, soft at first, but then louder and more frequent.

* * *

"Luna," the voice hissed. I was asleep, dreaming, but it sounded real.

"Who is there?" I asked plaintively.

"I am you, Moon Princess," it said as a starry aura of magic fizzled into existence. It formed into the shape of a tall unicorn, and it smiled.

"W-What are you?" I stuttered, shaking involuntarily.

"I am the Tantabus, a creature made of pure nightmares," the Tantabus said. "And you are Luna, Princess of the Night."

"How does thy know me?" I questioned speculatively.

"What foolish foal wouldn't know the Equestrian princess? Are you that deep in your elder sister's shadow?" The Tantabus laughed at me, an awful snicker that I couldn't stand to hear.

"Don't speak of me or my sister in that way," I mumbled.

"Luna, you truly are in the depths of your sister's shadow," the Tantabus stated. "You defend her stronger than a dragon defends her eggs, even though the envy you truly feel should overcome the bond you share."

"No," I said softly. "That cannot be true. I love Celestia and she loves me, she protects me. You cannot tell me without lying that I feel jealousy toward my sister, or that I would betray her."

"And why not?" The Tantabus grinned a devilish smirk that made me turn my head away. Was it true? Could this creature be telling me that my destiny was to betray my own sister and the country we had formed together? We had rebuilt Equestria side by side after the Great Draconaquus War, but was my goal to destroy it once more?

"Wake up, Moon Princess," the Tantabus said, sounding almost disappointed in me. "We all have a destiny to face. Why wait to put your's into action?"

* * *

I woke up in my bed, my pillow wet from tears and a cold sweat breaking out all over my body.

"Celestia!" I screamed loudly for my sister, and she burst into the room. Her mane was disheveled and her eyes were wide open.

"Luna, what is the matter?" She asked, trotting briskly over to my bed and sitting atop the covers. "Take as long as you need to tell me. That's what sister's are for."

I nodded and slowly began to speak. "There was... I'm not sure what it was, Tia. It was a creature that called itself the Tantabus. It said that I should give up on working alongside you, and face my real destiny."

"What is your, um, real destiny, Luna?" Celestia asked speculatively.

"To destroy you."

Celestia closed her eyes, showing me no emotion whatsoever. She shook her head and tucked me under my covers, an act that our mother often used when she didn't want to talk anymore. I rolled over, no longer facing my sister, instead I gazed out of the gargantuan picture window at my bedside. The moon, my moon, gleamed brightly, glistening as ponies turned lights on in their Canterlot homes, signaling me in their oblivious way to lower the moon. I weaved through the palace to the observatory, where I climbed up a stairwell to the balcony where my sister and I raised and lowered the sun and moon. She already was raising the sun while the moon stayed in the sky. I lowered it quicker than usual to make up for her starting without me, but I felt bitter.

"Celestia, why couldn't you just wait for me? What is so wrong with waiting for your sister when ponies aren't even awake yet?" I felt awful, and I wanted her to know so.

"Luna, ponies count on the sun, it's far more important than the darkness that you so gratefully give us," Celestia rolled her eyes when calling my job, my special talent, gratefully given, and I snapped.

"I am not anything less than you, Celestia!" I screamed. "There is nothing that you do better than me, and I do not want you thinking so!" I turned away from her and removed my crown from my head. My light blue aura of magic faded away when it hit the ground, and I left the palace, flustered and fuming.

* * *

At some point I wandered out of Canterlot. I found myself in the infamous Everfree Forest, where timberwolves roamed freely, ready to pounce. I came across our old castle, and stumbled inside. I wandered aimlessly, my adventurous side getting the better of my common sense. Then I remembered the room my mother told me to never enter.

She's not here anymore. She can't stop you. I thought deviously. I galloped through the castle into the dimly lit room with a locked door. I knew where she kept the key, under a one-of-a-kind spell book written by Starswirl the Bearded. I lifted it with my magic and unlocked the deteriorated wooden door, I entered the room where a beautiful necklace, one with my own cutie mark adorning it. I put it on myself, it felt like it was truly meant to be mine. And then I saw it.

"Hello, Moon Princess," the Tantabus had seeped out of the necklace, and this time I knew it was real.


End file.
